# Loathsome buzzwords in your industry **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888 "2002-08-08T01:11:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/1 "2002-08-08T01:11:30Z")
On occasions too numerous to count, someone will throw out stupid computer industry buzzwords that make my teeth hurt. Some are just kinda irritating: “We don’t have time to **spin cycles** on that issue…” “I’ll **ping** the UA people…” Some are reeeeally bothersome: “Can we establish an **end-to-end convergence** here?” “Can we get a **time-phase delta** on that feature implementation?” “Can we **projectize** this?” But none of them - _NONE_ compare to the word that I hate more than any other word in the English language. An execrable word that, when used by anyone I work with, causes me to immediately stop listening to them for the rest of their lives. I give you: “Let’s see if we can create some **synergy** there…” **AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGHHHHH!!!** ::Dooku punches him through chest, removes still-beating heart, eats it:: So what are your industry buzzwords that send you screaming from the room? ---
**Author:** ![alibey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@alibey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alibey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/2 "2002-08-08T01:15:16Z")
hooah, though I think that it is spelled huah - Head Up Ass Hole. sort of tells the mentality of those who use it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/3 "2002-08-08T02:09:17Z")
“Pro-active” or “proactive” (a word I am occasionally guilty of using myself) and “Thinking outside of the box” are two phrases that must die now. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/4 "2002-08-08T04:05:40Z")
A new one for me is “sensitize.” As in “we are implementing a program to sensitize staff to the problem of sexual and gender-based violence.” Check out the [Jargon Files](http://www.emcf.org/pub/jargon/). ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/5 "2002-08-08T04:15:25Z")
Huh. I thought I was going to have a lot of them, but the only one that comes to mind is: **Going forward** : And what _other_ direction would we be going, pray tell? Sideways? Diagonally? Up? Backwards, for Og’s sake? In a corkscrew pattern? Gaah! Of course, being unemployed for three months has probably driven most of the annoying buzzwords from my mind… ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/6 "2002-08-08T05:47:18Z")
Got y’all beat, because I’m forced to use this buzzword every day … “Frappuccino” … a word that means nothing, and exists only to make a drink sound trendy. Actually, though, according to official memos we are _not_ ever supposed to call a drink a Frappuccino, nor is the plural Frappuccinos; the Official Starbucks Name is “Frappuccino Blended Beverage.” Thanks, guys, as if I didn’t have enough people ignoring me when I call their drinks. (“Two grande mocha Frappuccino Blended Beverages, one tall caramel Frappu … aw fuck it, just get your effing pansy drinks already.”) – Dragonblink, who is not at all bitter about being a corporate whore. Really! ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/7 "2002-08-08T06:29:08Z")
Dynamic. As in, “Public Relations is sponsoring a contest. Please submit a dynamic, one-word slogan for next year’s outreach programs. Winners will recieve the ridicule of their colleagues.” ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/8 "2002-08-08T09:50:12Z")
I work in a radio station. Just today, I got an email from an ad agency asking us if we could “re-audio” an ad. I think they meant “re-voice” it. Re-audio. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/9 "2002-08-08T09:57:33Z")
“At yesterday’s brown-bag seminar, we were just kicking the tyres of this vaporware, that’s online to push the envelope.” ---
**Author:** ![Synnove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@Synnove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Synnove)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/10 "2002-08-08T12:24:22Z")
Okay, so it’s probably not as annoying as the ones you’ve all posted, but still. I work for the post office and when we were in training to learn what to do with a mailpiece that is facing away from us (you wouldn’t think it’d take 2 hours to cover the necessary procedure of “turn it around” but it did), they refused to call it a “backwards envelope” or “misfaced” (though that’s the ‘technical term’) or anything of the sort. They called it … “a smiley” Because of the shape of the flap of the envelope. “Whenever you see a ‘smiley’, you need to turn it around, or if you can’t, the address won’t be read.” Oh, and if it was turned around _and_ upside down, it was not an “upside-down misfaced envelope”, oh no. It was a “frowney” Augh. You want to know why postal workers go nuts, I can give ya a thousand good reasons why. And now you know two of them. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/11 "2002-08-08T17:04:13Z")
“Let’s discuss this off line” It’s a fairly “robust” model Please “route” it to me when you’re done [could you not just say send or give???] And again, there are many more, but I’m drawing blanks right now. Better get out the Buzzword Bingo sheet to get more ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Simetra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Simetra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simetra)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/12 "2002-08-08T17:23:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alibey \* > \*\*hooah, though I think that it is spelled huah - Head Up Ass Hole. sort of tells the mentality of those who use it a lot. \*\* We say “hoo-ah” all the time around here. We spell it HUA, and it stands for Heard, Understood, Acknowledged. It doesn’t bother me at all. The one that gets me is “face-mail”. Used to refer to having an actual face-to-face conversation with someone. The phrase has gotten popular. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/13 "2002-08-08T17:40:13Z")
Synnove, that is one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a while. “OK, class, is this a ‘smiley’ or a ‘frowney’?” Yeesh. My company is really a hotbed of acronyms rather than buzzwords: “Yes, the BCRS MSS group has a DOU with the SDC on the labor for IDS, HID, and FW mgmt.” \ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/14 "2002-08-08T18:58:59Z")
Opportunity – As in: It’s not a problem; it’s an opportunity. A new release of software was installed on the test system. Tech support sent out a memo saying that, if the test system remained opportunity-free, the new release would be installed on the production system. Don’t get me started on pro-active. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/15 "2002-08-08T19:09:11Z")
Leverage. Leverage, leverage, leverage. As in, “If we’re proactive about this, we can leverage this opportunity going forward.” AAAAAAAAARRRRGHGHGH! It makes me want to shove sharpened pencils deep enough into my ears to rupture my damn ear drums. God damn, do I hate “leverage” and “proactive” and “going forward.” ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Scratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Chicken\_Scratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Scratch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/16 "2002-08-08T19:28:58Z")
I work in the finance industry, and the two words that drive me insane are “incept” and “indexes”. There isn’t a verb form for “inception”. An account doesn’t “incept.” And “indexes” instead of “indices”?? I know it’s in the dictionary, but I insist that it was included due to popular use, sort of like “irregardless”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/17 "2002-08-08T19:40:35Z")
I work with a bunch of audiophiles who talk about sound “color” because thats the only way they can differential between two samples (that amazingly sound identical, and are in fact identical). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/18 "2002-08-08T19:42:12Z")
oops. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/19 "2002-08-08T19:50:11Z")
The worst businessese word there is, by far, and you can find it in ANY business, is “utilize.” There is almost no situation in which “use” isn’t a better choice of word. You should never, NEVER use the word “utilize” (except in the specific case where you must convey the concept of “to use something with a specifically productive result.”) I proofread a lot of documents for other folks and I invariably replace every “utilize” with “use” and yet they keep coming back, like zombies. If you can use “use,” use it! ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888/20 "2002-08-08T20:02:51Z")
I work in biotech, and there is a lot of mergers and acquistions going on right now. So, - synergies - as in “the merger will capitalize on the synergies of the two companies” . It sounds better than “Holy s\*\*\*, am I going to make a lot of cash from this!” - Value addition (some form) - “We need to focus on areas where we can add the most value” Geez, thanks for that pearl of wisdom boss. No wonder you make 10x what I do. Who would have thought of actually focusing on the operations that are the most valuable? I’ll bring a notepad to the next meeting. I’m sure I’ll here a lot more. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathsome-buzzwords-in-your-industry/122888.md?page=2)